


but your love's too good to lose

by ifthebookdoesntsell



Category: The Prom (2020), The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Canon, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, they're in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29435553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifthebookdoesntsell/pseuds/ifthebookdoesntsell
Summary: When Alyssa wakes, she feels around for her phone immediately.It’s become ritual since Emma started working with a few songwriters and got a job at a studio in New Jersey. They haven’t been living together, and neither of them realized how hard long distance would be, even if it’s just a few hours and they try to see each other whenever they can, though those times have been few and far between the last two months.Today is an especially hard day.It’s Valentine’s Day, and they’ve spent every one since junior year together.Alyssa would be driving out this weekend, but law school is even more work than she thought. She’d felt terrible about cancelling, and she’s just grateful Emma had understood, sending her at least four kiss gifs before attaching the opening to another love song she’s writing.I wrote it for you,Emma had captioned it, and Alyssa had blushed so hard she’s surprised she didn’t burn up.(Or, the one where it's Valentine's Day, and they miss each other. The one where Emma does something about it.)
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 15
Kudos: 57





	but your love's too good to lose

**Author's Note:**

> happy valentine's day! i hope everybody is spreading love today however that may be, platonic/romantic/familial, with whoever it may be. this fic was especially fun to write as it reminds me of some of the most important people in _my_ life. i hope that you enjoy. 
> 
> (this is a gift especially for @julietinconverse thanks for putting up with me. love you. go read everything by them right now lmao.)
> 
> fic title from seventeen from heathers.

When Alyssa wakes, she feels around for her phone immediately. 

It’s become ritual since Emma started working with a few songwriters and got a job at a studio in New Jersey. They haven’t been living together, and neither of them realized how hard long distance would be, even if it’s just a few hours and they try to see each other whenever they can, though those times have been few and far between the last two months. 

Today is an especially hard day. 

It’s Valentine’s Day, and they’ve spent every one since junior year together. 

Alyssa would be driving out this weekend, but law school is even more work than she thought. She’d felt terrible about cancelling, and she’s just grateful Emma had understood, sending her at least four kiss gifs before attaching the opening to another love song she’s writing. 

_ I wrote it for you,  _ Emma had captioned it, and Alyssa had blushed so hard she’s surprised she didn’t burn up. 

She flips her phone face up so she can take a look at her messages, smiling when she sees the top one. 

**[Emma, 8:02am]:** _ happy valentine’s day! i love you so much. thanks for putting up with my dumbassery for almost nine years <33 _

Alyssa rolls her eyes affectionately, typing back quickly. 

**[Alyssa, 8:10am]:** _ happy valentine’s day, love. i wouldn't want to put up with anybody else <33  _

Within seconds of when she hit send, her phone is buzzing in her hand. 

“Hello?” she says softly, even though she already knows who it is as Emma’s face fills the screen. 

_ “Hi!”  _ Emma grins at her, clearly cooking something as she looks down and maneuvers her spatula.  _ “Happy Valentine’s Day!”  _

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Alyssa laughs back. She softens when Emma’s gaze raises and their eyes meet, so wholly connected despite the fact that they’re looking at the other on a screen. “Have you had a good day so far?”

Emma nods, biting her bottom lip in concentration when she grabs the handle of her pan and flips it. “I’m making pancakes!” she exclaims, showing off a heart pancake. “I miss you, and we normally do this, so I wanted to make them so that I could talk to you on the phone and eat them.”

Alyssa’s throat tightens slightly. “I miss you too, Em,” she answers. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t drive out.” 

“Hey.” Emma stops her. “I get it. You’re going to be a big hotshot lawyer! We can live one more weekend without each other.” 

“But I wish we didn’t have to.” Alyssa pouts. “I wish you were next to me right now.” She scrubs a hand over her face. “Sorry, this isn’t helping the situation.”

“It’s okay,” Emma assures quickly. “I really miss you, I do! But I just want to make the best of today.” 

“I want that too,” Alyssa replies quietly. “I really want that, but--”

Emma’s face falls slightly. “You have work to do, don’t you?”

Alyssa hesitates, brow furrowing. 

“It’s okay if you do,” Emma insists immediately. “I’ll ring around dinner, okay? We can eat together and everything!”

“Are you sure?” her girlfriend says. “I feel really bad, Em.”

“I’m sure.” Emma places one last pancake onto her stack before she holds the plate up. “I have my pancakes! And my guitar.” Her lips twitch, clearly amused with herself. “And that box of chocolates I was going to give you, but I guess I can eat them all myself since you’re not here.” 

Alyssa gapes in fake offense. “Emma!” 

Emma grins back at her. “What?”

***

Alyssa’s exhausted by 4pm. 

She digs the heels of her palms against her eyes. She’s been reading proceedings from trials and mock cases, and enough law jargon has been burned into her brain that she’s fairly sure that she’s going to start dreaming of courtrooms. 

Normally, Emma would sweep her up into her arms when she grew overwhelmed, but now, Alyssa feels a little lost. Today is a day where she’s supposed to be spending it with the woman she loves, and instead, she sacrificed that to work on her law career, which feels slightly unimportant right now, considering that her girlfriend is in an entirely different state and they could have seen each other for the first time in a month but she cancelled. 

She shifts in her chair, back aching slightly, about to get back to work when the bell rings. 

Odd. 

Still, she gets up, looking down at her outfit. She’s in one of Emma’s hoodies and a pair of jeans, but she can’t imagine that it’ll be anything but maybe the books she ordered a few days ago or something else small. 

She pads over to the door, allowing the sleeves of Emma’s sweatshirt to hang past her hands as she reaches for the door, pulling it open a crack, trying to see who it is. 

She almost bangs the door against the opposite wall with how fast she forces it open when she catches sight of a familiar, perfect smile. 

“Emma?!” she exclaims, mouth open slightly rushing forward and jumping into her arms. 

Emma laughs, pressing a hand to her back to keep her upright and spinning her around. “I said I’d ring around dinner, didn’t I?” she teases. 

Alyssa buries her nose into the collar of her flannel, trembling slightly against Emma. It’s been too long since she’s felt her so close like this, since Emma has held her. She pulls back slightly as her girlfriend places her back down gently, reaching up to hold the woman’s face in her hands. 

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Alyssa murmurs, pressing up on her toes so that she can brush their noses together. “It’s such a long drive.” 

“My girl missed me,” Emma tells her softly, shrugging as if that answers all questions, leaning down to kiss Alyssa. 

Tears fill Alyssa’s eyes at that, even as she kisses back. “I love you so much,” she breathes. 

Emma smiles. “I love you too.”

***

“I told you we’d eat dinner together,” Emma tells her, grinning goofily as she shovels some lasagna into her mouth that they’d ordered from their favorite place a few streets away. 

“Did you plan this?” Alyssa asks with a laugh, wiping some sauce from the corner of her girlfriend’s mouth. 

“No, actually.” Emma swallows. “But I missed you a lot, and you said you missed me, so I wanted to see you!” 

“You’re amazing,” Alyssa grabs her hand across the table. Emma squeezes in return. Suddenly, the brunette’s eyes light up in amusement when a memory hits her at full force. 

“What?” Emma asks, grinning back. 

“Do you remember when you did this when we were seventeen?” Alyssa says softly. 

“I do,” the blonde answers. “Though it was a lot less romantic. We ate lasagna in the back of my truck.” 

“I thought it was romantic!” Alyssa protests. “You got me those chocolate chip cookies that I like, too!”

“I wanted to make it special,” Emma tells her. “It was our first real Valentine’s together since the year before we’d only been together a little while.”

“Well, it was perfect,” Alyssa replies. “Though,” she begins. “Do you remember what else you did?”

Emma groans. “Don’t remind me.”

“You played  _ Seventeen from Heathers,”  _ Alyssa teases. “Which, in your defense, is quite a romantic song out of context--”

“But yes, it’s about a murderer! I know!” Emma whines with a laugh. “You’re so mean to me. Maybe I should drive home.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes. “You wouldn’t.” 

Emma’s lips twitch. “Try me,” she laments dramatically, standing up, sauntering over to where her keys are on the counter. 

Alyssa tries not to laugh as she stands up, blocking Emma’s path. “Please stay.” She pouts softly. 

_ “No.”  _ Emma pretends to resist. “You slandered my name.” 

Alyssa presses her to the counter, rising to her full height until they’re at eye level, voice soft and sweet as she murmurs again, “Please stay.”

Emma swallows hard. “Okay.” 

Alyssa giggles. “Good to know that’s all it takes.”

“Hey!” her girlfriend protests. “I can resist you!”

Wandering the tiniest bit closer into Emma’s space, Alyssa raises an eyebrow. “Can you?”

“I can,” Emma replies, gaze moving over Alyssa’s face, hazel irises filled with amusement and adoration. “But that doesn’t mean I have to.”

In a flash, she’s wrapped her arms around Alyssa’s middle, and even as Alyssa giggles and shrieks with laughter when Emma picks her up, she doesn’t let go. 

“Put me down, Emma!” Alyssa squirms in her grip as Emma throws her over her shoulder. 

She laughs louder when Emma starts to sing, spinning her around the tiny living room, dinner forgotten. 

_ “Can’t we be seventeen?”  _ Emma’s voice rings through the apartment.  _ “Is that so hard to do?”  _

“I’m twenty-four,” Alyssa deadpans next to her ear.

Emma ignores her completely, lowering Alyssa until they can look at each other, the woman’s legs wrapped tightly around her hips. 

_ “If you could let me in, I could be good with you.”  _ She starts to slow their turning, easing Alyssa down until her feet are back on the floor before she brushes their noses together.  _ “Let us be seventeen, if we’ve still got the right.”  _

Alyssa is smiling so hard she’s surprised there’s any shadows in the room. She  _ does  _ feel seventeen whenever she’s with Emma, feels as though they’re still learning how to love each other, finds herself drowning in Emma’s eyes all over again. 

_ “So what’s it gonna be?”  _ Emma sings so quietly, breath ghosting against her lips. 

Alyssa waits for her to go on, but Emma’s gaze meets hers expectantly. 

“I don’t remember the words,” Alyssa tries to say, but Emma narrows her eyes playfully.

“You do,” Emma tells her, sure, so close that Alyssa swears she can feel her heartbeat, or maybe it’s hers. She honestly isn’t sure where she starts and Emma ends. Not anymore.  _ “So what’s it gonna be?”  _ the blonde asks again. 

“I wanna be with you,” Alyssa finally tells her, just as soft. 

_ “Yeah we’re damaged, badly damaged,”  _ Emma continues, pulling her girlfriend closer from where she’s still got a grip around her waist.  _ “But your love’s too good to lose.”  _

Alyssa blushes hard, biting her lip around another smile as her heart beats heavy and rough throughout her entire body. If she were the kind of girl that swooned, she would right now. Instead, she wraps her arms around Emma’s neck, allows every worry she’s had about what the distance, what the time apart, would mean for them to fall away in this moment. 

“Hold me tighter,” she whispers. 

_ “Even closer,”  _ Emma agrees. They’re so close that air can’t even fit between them.  _ “I’ll stay if I’m what you choose.”  _

Alyssa kisses her at that. Emma is exactly what she chooses, is exactly what she  _ chose _ so many years ago. Emma is hers and only hers, beautifully, brilliantly, is everything she wants for the rest of her life. She says all of that into the kiss, slips her tongue into it, tangles her hands in soft blonde hair. 

“I love you,” she mumbles. She deepens the kiss, pressing all the way up onto her toes. “I love you so much.” 

Emma grins against her lips. “I love you too.” 

For a moment, they just stay that way, fitted together, heart on heart, before Alyssa pulls back slightly to nose at Emma’s jaw. 

“Are you gonna finish the song?” she asks as she tucks her face into her girlfriend’s neck. 

Emma kisses the top of her head. 

_ “Can we be seventeen?”  _ she breathes, voice barely above a melodic whisper as she continues, swaying them gently. 

Love impedes all of their senses as Emma keeps singing. It’s intoxicating, Alyssa finds, to be loved by Emma this way, to be held close in her arms, to take all of her in like this. Emma is her past and her future; Emma is everything she wanted but didn’t know she could have. 

Emma is her whole life. She knows this to be true. 

If anybody tells her story one day, they won’t speak of her law career, of her scholarly achievements or even of her relationship with her mother and how it’s grown and changed. At least, Alyssa doesn’t want them to, not when it comes down to it. 

Emma is her story. 

Emma is her beginning and ending. She’s everything in the middle, too. Emma is the space between the lines, is an early rising dawn and a late setting sun. 

It’s been nine years, and Alyssa is fairly sure that, now, she believes in soulmates. She pretty much did the moment Emma touched her hand under the table in chemistry for the first time. 

Whatever it is, Emma is meant to be hers, in this way, in so many ways. 

Alyssa trembles under the weight of such an understanding. Her heart picks up its pace slightly. It makes her lose her breath. 

Alyssa always feels so much in these moments. 

Emma does this to her. Emma makes her forget herself, her troubles, her  _ everything.  _ Emma makes it safe, safe to wonder and see things for what they really are. 

Emma makes it okay for Alyssa to feel seen, too. 

She swallows hard, breathing in Emma’s scent as she tightens her hold around her neck. 

_ “You’re the one I choose,”  _ Emma finishes quietly in her ear. She presses her nose into soft brown hair, looking for her lungs to be filled with Alyssa.  _ “You’re the one I choose.”  _

Alyssa trembles slightly at that. It’s been so long, and yet, any time Emma tells her as such, confirms that she’s picked Alyssa despite everything, despite all the consequences and the obstacles, it tugs on both ends of her heart.

Emma picked her. 

All she can do is smile at the thought. 

Emma notices immediately. 

“What?” she murmurs. 

Alyssa shakes her head. “Nothing.” She reaches up to hold Emma’s face in her hands. “It’s just… I choose you too.” 

Emma grins back, eyes lighting up and a slight blush on her cheeks. “Good,” she laughs, leaning down for another kiss. “Because you’re not getting rid of me that easy, Greene.” 

Alyssa hums in content. “Oh, Nolan, I wouldn’t dream of it.” 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i really hope that you liked it. if you did, let me know down below with a comment/kudos! 
> 
> jess, i especially hope you enjoyed. (yeah yeah i used the last name thing leave me be about it <3)
> 
> happy love day to everybody out there! if you wanna talk to me some more you can find me on tumblr @ifthebookdoesntsell. please be safe today and everyday. hug someone you love x


End file.
